Hanging Loc Chronicles [June 2022]
My hair has been growing. A lot…
Firstly, thank you for keeping up with my loc journey. It prevails, notwithstanding my absence, and has reached new pinnacles. I officially have a 10 month old head of hair as of today! According to my loctician, I am finally in the adult / maturation phase of the journey, which was long awaited. I’m proud of the progression, as it’s taken a lot of patience to get here.
A bit of background about why this is so important to me…
I gave myself a stress-induced haircut on the 1st of August 2021 after debating whether the short look was something I wanted to go for. I did the big chop in May 2015, growing my hair out ever since with minimal to no cutting. The haircut was less than ideal in my eyes, as I’d simply call it what it is; botched. There was no turning back after chopping off the first 10 inches, as the end result was something along the lines of miss matched ends and chunks of the last 6 years of my life on the floor.
Locing it seemed like the next best step, which it was. Since growing out it out, the locs have started to even out, but my trained eye can still see the “damage.” I’ve been tempted to cut it, but chose not to, as I know it’ll eventually achieve the look I’m striving for. Still, insecurity prevails, despite styling it in ways that minimize the ability to see it.
June was a month full of adventure. I was presented with the opportunity to travel through Mexico (more on that later) and had to think of ways to best protect my locs while being away from home. I had my last retwist in early May (I promise I’m getting it done next week; this is the longest I’ve gone between appointments), and asked my loctician to put my locs into cornrows.
After rummaging through my linen drawer, I found that I had more headwraps than I could possibly account for. To be transparent, I have a headwrap for every day of the month; I know, issa a problem. ;) I planned to let my braids sit undisturbed under the wrap while the locs matured, allowing for little to no disruption through my travels. This was the longest amount of time I’d worn a protective style and I loved it.
Wrapping my hair was fun! Since I had such an array of wraps (I buy most of them from artisan sellers, fabric shops or The Wrap Life), they were styled in conjunction with my outfits, allowing for me to think of fashion from another perspective. Some days I felt like sporting patterns or bright & bold colors. I was able to easily wash my braids without them coming loose, which was great and part of why I kept them in for so long.
There were a lot of folks along my travels who had their hair in locs. One of the cool things about having locs is that the mere subject of them can be a conversation opener. “Hey, I like your hair,” is a great way I’ve gotten to know others in the community.
I was recently inspired by someone I’d met who had their locs in two strand twists. I was intrigued and curious to see whether mine could do something similar. I’m still rockin’ the twists as I type this, as two strand twists were a favored go-to style when I had loose natural hair. I love the versatility of my locs, in that they’re able to still do this so easily. Installing the twists was the most time I’d spent on my hair in the last 6 weeks. It felt good to take down my cornrows and see the growth.
As I re-acclimated to life in the US at the end of June, I made a concerted effort to attend events in my community. During one of my outings, I met an amazing stylist, Kia Fay, affectionately known as @kiathecurlconsultant. More on how and where we met in a second. Kia is based in San Jose, CA and creates a safe space for clients as she provides educational and accessible courses around natural hair care.
We met through Beautyocracy, an inclusive beauty community that assists users when shopping for products tailored for people of color. I was invited to their beta launch in San Francisco. As I nervously awaited for the event to start, Kia and I instantly connected! The whole event was nothing short of incredible, as the 20+ attendees were able to sit in community and share their experiences and personal takes on what beauty means for them. We had time to network, which went way beyond the quintessential, “so, what do you do for work?”
My conversation with Kia was full of, “mmhmm’s,” “oh yeah,” and “I know that’s right.” We stayed well past the ending of the event and I walked away feeling full and affirmed. I’m excited about this new phase in my loc journey. The advice I’ve received so far has been solid, and I feel confident in my current regime.
Thank you for reading my content. It means a lot that you’ve visited my corner of the internet and have an interest in what I have to say; whether it’s talking about natural hair or my personal life’s journey.
Nevermind the reason, gratitude prevails. See you over on Instagram!
